Lady and the Tramp: The Best Disney Remake of the Year (By Default)
Who would’ve thought that Disney’s best remake would get dumped on a streaming platform and not released in theaters? Not me. After physically assaulting us with their four art-killing, cash-grab, pointless remakes this year, Disney actually makes a quality one, but isn’t released in the way it’s meant to be seen. Visually arousing, beautifully shot and wonderfully heartfelt, Lady and the Tramp showcases that Disney, when they care, can make a great remake that not only reimagines the story in a more “contemporary” setting, but its great voice (and human) cast can shine on a great script, which sets the stage for movies that can come out in the new streaming platform, Disney+ (A review of The Mandalorian will come out only after the series ends).
After Darling (Kiersey Clemons) gives birth to a baby, hers and Jim Dear (Thomas Mann)’s dog, Lady (Tessa Thompson) isn’t their center of attention anymore (because they, obviously, have to take care of their baby), which was predicted by a stray dog with multiple names (Justin Theroux) who told her: “When the baby comes in, the dog moves out”. She didn’t believe him at first, but soon realizes that their “masters” don’t have time to take care of their dog, so she jumps in on an adventure with “The Tramp”, discovering what she’s sorely missed behind a fence. However, a dog catcher (Adrian Martinez) has a duty to capture and kill “Tramp”, as he is known to be a “menace to society”.
Let’s start with Martinez — his performance is absolutely fantastic. Portraying a lonely man whose sole dedication is to get stray dog off the streets, as he feels like he’s a national hero catching stray dogs who literally don’t do anything to society other than them being “stray dogs” with no masters. What’s his problem? I don’t know, but every scene involving him was a complete riot. He caricaturizes the “dog-catcher” role perfectly and brings a hefty dose of (surprisingly) hilarious comedy in well-executed, shot and choreographed action sequences. Now I would be the last person to say “Add elaborate action sequences in Lady and the Tramp”. But the reality is, those action sequences work, and they are nail-bitingly exciting. The most thrilling one, involves a baby’s life at stake as Tramp tries to get rid of a rat to prevent the baby from catching a disease. Good lord, that sequence actually made me jump out of my seat (and can be surprisingly scary for little kids), but it was so well-executed and choreographed that you can’t help but feel invested in the sequence. All of the other live-action characters give great performances, especially funny cameos from Ken Jeong and Academy Award Winner (I do have to specify that, because once you see what he does, your mouth will drop) F. Murray Abraham.
The voice-cast is also great. Thompson and Theroux have fantastic chemistry together, and even if the CGI on Lady looks absolutely atrocious and fake, her vocal performance is really believable. You develop an affinity to those characters and hope, in the end, that they will end up together (even if you know that’s what happens). The CGI is hit or miss on the animals (it looks great on every single one with the exception of the CATS…good lord they traumatized me and Lady. You can tell when it’s a real dog, and when it’s a CGI dog…that’s how bad it looks), but the vocal performances aren’t. From a funny Benedict Wong playing a bulldog, to a surprising reendition of “He’s a Tramp” from a Pekingese Janelle Monáe (with a weirdly jarring CGI musical number that just…doesn’t work), the voice talent is diverse, but equally great. The most surprising aspect of the film is how visually sumptuous every shot by cinematographer Enrique Chediak looks. It’s great that the movie doesn’t rely on green screen 95% of the time or fake soundstages but is actually shot on an authentic recreation of the late 1900s. Everything looks authentic, because nothing feels like it’s shot on a green screen, but on elaborate exterior (and interior) sets that are blissfully shot and look absolutely stunning in 4k HDR.
Lady and the Tramp proves that Disney doesn’t need to do extravagantly CGI’d remakes or recreate shot-for-shot the same movie to be good, they just need a quality script, a good cast that know what they’re doing, and a competent director. And they hit the nail on the head for the triefecta. Lady and the Tramp is a great start for Disney+’s film slate — it’s a sweet and heartfelt film that is beautifully shot, wonderfully acted, and, at times, quite hilarious. Yes, it does get (VERY) predictable at times (if you’ve seen the 1955 original), and some of the CGI just looks…wrong, but it doesn’t matter. My eyes soared when the film began and saw its wonderful, soul-stirring cinematography and heard the blissful score from Joseph Trapanese. You can curl up with your family and stream a feel-good holiday film ASAP that will entertain both kids and adults equally. Do it!
✯✯✯✯
